Toots Thielemans (Wikipedia)
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), commonly known as Toots Thielemans, was a Belgian and American jazz musician. He was known for his harmonica playing, as well as his guitar, whistling skills, and composing.
His first professional performances were with Benny Goodman’s band when they toured Europe in 1949 and 1950. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1951, becoming a citizen in 1957. From 1953 to 1959 he played with George Shearing, and then led his own groups on tours in the U.S. and Europe. In 1961 he recorded and performed live one of his own compositions, “Bluesette”, which featured him playing guitar and whistling. In the 1970s and 1980s, he continued touring and recording, appearing with musicians such as Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Werner, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Elis Regina and Paquito D’Rivera.
Among the film soundtracks that Thielemans recorded, are The Pawnbroker (1964), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Sugarland Express (1974) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). His harmonica theme song for the popular Sesame Street TV show was heard for 40 years. He often performed and recorded with Quincy Jones, who once called him “one of the greatest musicians of our time.” In 2009 he was designated a Jazz Master by The National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor for a jazz musician in the United States.
Early years
Thielemans was born in Brussels, Belgium on 29 April 1922. His parents owned a cafe. He began playing music at an early age, using a homemade accordion at age three. During the German occupation of Belgium beginning in 1940, he became attracted to jazz, but was then playing on full-size accordion or a harmonica, which he taught himself to play in his teens.
After being introduced to the music of Belgian-born jazz guitarist, Django Reinhardt, he became inspired to teach himself guitar, which he did by listening to Reinhardt’s recordings. At the time he was a college student majoring in math. By the war’s end in 1945, he considered himself a full-time musician. He said in 1950, “Django is still one of my main influences, I think, for lyricism. He can make me cry when I hear him.”
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Honors and awards
He received a joint honorary doctorate from the Université libre de Bruxelles and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. In 2001, Thielmans was raised into the Belgian nobility by King Albert II and given the noble title Baron for life, this in recognition of his contribution to music.
In 2006 Thielemans was honored by an all-star tribute concert for him at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Herbie Hancock and clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera were among the performers. In 2009, he was given the highest U.S. honor that can be accorded to a jazz musician, the distinction of “Jazz Master,” by The National Endowment for the Arts.
Later life
He was nominated for the title of the Greatest Belgian in 2005. In the Flemish version he finished in 20th place, and in the Walloon version he came 44th. On 23 January 2009, he joined guitarist Philip Catherine on stage at the Liberchies church (Belgium) in memory of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Django Reinhardt. In 2012, the Jazz at Lincoln Center concerts in New York celebrated Thielman’s 90th birthday with, among others, Herbie Hancock, Eliane Elias, and Kenny Werner. He performed for the occasion and left the stage standing among his friends.
Because of health issues that led to show cancellations, Thielemans announced his retirement on 12 March 2014, cancelling all scheduled concerts. His manager stated that Thielemans “wants to enjoy the rest he deserves.” However, he did make one more stage appearance, unannounced, in August 2014, at the Jazz Middelheim Festival in Antwerp.
Thielemans died in Brussels, Belgium, at the age of 94.
After the announcement, the Netherlands-based jazz and pop orchestra Metropole Orkest, along with American trumpet player Quincy Jones, performed at London’s Royal Albert Hall in Thielemans’ honor. Another concert was performed at the Brussels Grand Palace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toots_Thielemans
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
August 2016:
25: Eddy Silitonga, 65, Indonesian singer.
22: Gilli Smyth, 83, English singer (Gong); Toots Thielemans, 94, Belgian jazz guitarist, whistler and harmonica player (Man Bites Harmonica!).
21: Headley Bennett, 85, Jamaican saxophonist; Derek Smith, 85, British jazz pianist (death announced on this date).
20: Daniela Dessì, 59, Italian opera singer, cancer; Irving Fields, 101, American pianist; Matt Roberts, 38, American rock guitarist (3 Doors Down) and songwriter (“Kryptonite”), apparent prescription drug overdose; Tom Searle, 28, British metalcore guitarist (Architects), melanoma; Louis Stewart, 72, Irish jazz guitarist.
19: Adrian Enescu, 68, Romanian composer; Lou Pearlman, 62, American record producer, music manager (Backstreet Boys, NSYNC) and convicted criminal; Horacio Salgán, 100, Argentine tango musician.
17: Denis Cabric, 49, Bosnian bassist (Regina), heart attack; Nachum Heiman, 82, Latvian-born Israeli composer, recipient of the Israel Prize (2009); Preston Hubbard, 63, American bass player (The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Roomful of Blues); James Woolley, 50, American keyboardist (Nine Inch Nails, 2wo), Grammy winner (1993) (death announced on this date)/
16: Kendall Betts, 68, American horn player (Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra), lung cancer.